Salute Your Shorts: Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews

Salute Your Shorts is a weekly (ish) feature here at Bunbury in the Stacks highlighting and reviewing short stories and novellas. Everyone is welcome to join at any time, just grab the pic above and shoot me a link in the comments so that I can include your post in a roundup.

Title: Magic Mourns in Must Love Hellhounds [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Ilona Andrews [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: Magic Mourns is a Kate Daniels novella between books 3 and 4.  This anthology also includes 3 other novellas which are part of the Guild Hunter, Sookie Stackhouse, and The Guardians series.  As I have not read these other series, I did not read the other 3 novellas.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: September 1st, 2009 by Berkley Trade
Format:  Paperback; 361 pages. Magic Mourns alone is around 90 pages. 
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Alternative Source: Magic Mourns is also available to purchase as an e-book single here.
Spoilers!: This review contains very minor spoilers for Magic Bites (reviewed here), Magic Burns (reviewed here), and Magic Strikes (reviewed here).  One could, theoretically, read this story without having read other Kate Daniels novels.

The phone rang again.  “Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea—“
”Can I speak to Kate?”  An older male voice tinted with country accent.
”I’m filling in for her.  What do you need?”
”Can you take a message for her?  Tell ‘er this is Teddy Jo callin’ down from Joshua Junkyards.  She knows me.  Tell her I was drivin’ on through Buzzard, and I saw one of them fellers she hangs out with, the shapeshifters, run like hell through the Scratches.  Right below me.  There was a big dog chasin’ him.”
“How big was the dog?”
Teddy Jo mulled it over.  “I’d say as big as a house.  A one-story.  Maybe a bit bigger.  Not as big as one of them colonials, you understand.  A regular-person house.”
”Would you say the shapeshifter was in distress?”
”Hell yeah, he was in distress.  His tail was on fire.”
”He ran like his tail was on fire?”
”No, his tail was on fire.  Like a big, furry candle on his ass.
Bing.  Green five, shapeshifter in dire distress.  “Got it.”

When I picked up Magic Mourns, I was expecting Kate.  What I got was Andrea.  The shift in narrators was a surprise for me, but not an unwelcome one.  I love me some Kate, but I’ve really enjoyed Andrea’s character in the past two books, and knowing that Gunmetal Magic is coming out this summer with her PoV, I was pumped for the preview.  And friends, Magic Mourns did not disappoint! 

Often, when you pick up new narration by the same author, it’s incredibly similar.  However, Ilona Andrews really took me by surprise with Andrea.  She doesn’t write the same for this character at all.  Sure, it’s still written very well, but Andrea’s thought process is different to Kate’s.  We see that not only in her mental dialog, but because it is written in first person, we see it in every word.  Andrea’s narration isn’t full of well-known phrases and clichés, it’s not as clipped, moody, or sharp; it is another strong butt-kicking chick with a wry sense of humor, and I am now more than ever a fan of Andrea’s.

I’m going to say after the past three books, Ilona Andrews kind of owed us this one.  Magic Mourns tells the story of Andrea dealing with duty without Kate.  When she receives word of the (supposedly) giant dog chasing a shapeshifter outside of the city, she heads out to check the scene.  There she finds, much to her dismay, Rafael.  Rafael running from what is, indeed, a three headed dog the size of a house.  Andrea doesn’t particularly want to work with Rafael, but she doesn’t want to leave the guy either.  She wants to create a better bond between herself and the Pack, hoping that she can earn a position of trust similar to Kate’s, making relations easier for everyone. 

As always, we get a fun and unique play on mythology (Greek this time), but with it comes the gratification of Andrea and Rafael, and how their relationship differs from Kate and Curran’s.  Andrea and Rafael, unlike the other couple mentioned, actually acknowledge and talk about the issues between them.  For better or worse, at least they have some form of communication going.  Magic Mourns also gives us better insight into Andrea’s past.  We’ve known she is beastkin, but other than the stigma involved, we’ve been a little blind to what that really meant for her growing up.  I was incredibly interested to have her past laid bare, appalling as aspects of it may be.  Where Ilona Andrews has been giving us snippets of Kate’s past and relationship with Curran slowly over 3 novels, it was really quite satisfying to learn so much about another character in such a short period of time.  Not that I’m complaining about Kate’s pacing, quite the opposite, I love it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to be thrown a bone every once in a while.  Andrea’s story was well paced, informative, and the perfect balance between action and romance.

Overall, Magic Mourns is a must read for Kate Daniels fans, particularly those preparing to enjoy Gunmetal Magic!

Get a second opinion:
Janicu’s Book Blog (review of entire Must Love Hellhounds anthology)
Literary Escapism (review of entire Must Love Hellhounds anthology)
All Things Urban Fantasy (review of Magic Mourns)

Salute Your Shorts: Faery Tales and Nightmares by Melissa Marr–The non Wicked Lovely edition.

Salute Your Shorts is a weekly (ish) feature here at Bunbury in the Stacks highlighting and reviewing short stories and novellas. Everyone is welcome to join at any time, just grab the pic above and shoot me a link in the comments so that I can include your post in a roundup.

Title: Faery Tales and Nightmares [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Melissa Marr [Website|Twitter]
Standing: Stand alone anthology, BUT half the stories are in the Wicked Lovely universe (I’ll discuss those stories in a later post).
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Published: February 21st, 2012 by HarperCollins
Format:  Hardcover; 418 pages 
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Challenge: YA/MG Fantasy Challenge

Dangerous promises and beguiling threats swirl together in a dozen stories of enchantments dark and light by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr. Uncanny and unexpected creatures appear from behind bushes, rise from beneath the seas, or manifest from seasonal storms to pursue the objects of their attention—with amorous or sinister intent—relentlessly.

From the gentle tones of a storyteller’s cadences to the terror of a blood sacrifice, tales of favorite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with...or to fear.

Lush, seductive, and chilling, Melissa Marr’s stories revel in the unseen magic that infuses the world as we know it.

Welcome to the non-Wicked Lovely edition of Salute Your Shorts: Faery Tales and Nightmares!  I’ve decided to split my review of this anthology into two posts so that those of you who haven’t read Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series can know what this book has in store for you, without forcing you to skip the spoilers!  This works out quite well for everyone since of the twelve stories included, six have nothing to do with Wicked Lovely.  That means you can enjoy half this book!  Here’s what we have to offer:

Where Nightmares Walk

This very short story works as somewhat of an introduction into the book, and lets you realize right off the bat that it will indeed be as much about nightmares as about faery tales.  It’s a chilling intro that will make you fear the night.

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Winter’s Kiss

This short story evokes the image of a traditional fairy tale, but one you haven’t heard before.  It tells the tale of a princess who has the curse of icy breath, and the snow bear that would see it as a gift.  Winter’s Kiss is charming, beautiful, and a reminder of perspective.

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Transition

Eliana has been getting weird and uncontrollable headaches.  She loses time—she can’t remember hours of her life.  She’s stopped talking to doctors, they just think she’s crazy, and she’s begun to self medicate with drugs of another sort.  When she ends up in the graveyard with the boy she’s currently seeing, she can’t get her mind off someone something else, and she can’t help feeling as if the statue is watching her.

Transition is a chilling vampire story about the circle of life (or death…or undeath<—see what I did there?) in which Melissa Marr puts her own tale into a fairly traditional (and thus sexy and gory) lore.  This type of story right here is the reason people love vamps, and not the sparkly kind.

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Love Struck

Every once in a while, I feel like I get as much out of a short story as I do out of a full-length book.  This is one of those times.  Love Struck was a beautiful love story and fairy tale, about selchies.  Selchies!  I’ve been enamored with Selchies since The Secret of Roan Inish, and have been craving more.  I mean…who wants mermaids when selchies are about, really?  At least you don’t have to question the logistics of their anatomy quite so much… 

Alana is chosen to be the mate of Murrin, who intends to court her, but instead he accidently traps her as has been done for generations.  She holds his Other Skin, is compelled to hide it, and she cannot return it unless he finds it himself.  Alana doesn’t want to break her own rules, she doesn’t want a relationship, and certainly not one with some guy she barely knows.  She’s convinced that it’s the selchie magic drawing her to Murrin, and is deeply torn between wanting to be with him and wanting freedom for both of them.  Love Struck was a beautifully rendered tale, and I adored it.  It was the non-Wicked Lovely story in this collection that I was looking forward to most, and it did not disappoint!

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The Art of Waiting

This title made me think of the poem One Art by Elizabeth Bishop.  It’s the story of a small hamlet of a town, that is incased in snow and ice each winter that melts to beauty in the spring.  A man and his daughter come to the town, and the townspeople wait to see if they, like so many others, will leave.

This short is perfect for anyone who lives in a quaint little town and loves it.  It’s hard for people to understand this mentality, but those who live there wouldn’t have it any other way. 

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Flesh for Comfort

A disturbing tale about what we are willing to go through for beauty.  A poor girl in a mountain town knows she will never get out.  She is not rich enough, or attractive enough.  But when a mysterious creature offers to make her beautiful, she is tempted, knowing if she were attractive enough she could trade flesh for comfort and escape.

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These six stories range in length from about 3 to 60 pages, and are all very worth reading!  I particularly enjoyed Love Struck, and the most disturbing award goes to Flesh for Comfort.  Enjoy!

Review: Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Burns [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Ilona Andrews [Website|Twitter|Facebook] 
Standing: Book two in the Kate Daniels series, following Magic Bites.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: April 1st, 2008 by Ace
Format: Paperback; 260 pages.
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Spoilers!: This review contains spoilers for the first book in the series, Magic Bites, (reviewed here), so go read that first. 

Down in Atlanta, tempers — and temperatures — are about to flare…

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest — and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

There’s something really gratifying to me about picking up a book that I know will be a solid read.  I know I’m not going to fall head over heals, but at the same time, I know it’s going to be fast paced, thrilling, intriguing, and downright fun.  That was my expectation picking up Magic Burns, the second installment to Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels series, and that’s exactly what I got.  Color me a satisfied reader.

One of the things I am loving most about this series is its pacing.  It’s like one of those good T.V. series.  You know the kind.  The ones that have an overarching plot that you’re totally invested in, but at the same time, each individual episode has a completely enthralling story that you love diving into and having nicely wrapped up by the end.  For me, that’s kind of what it’s like reading Kate Daniels.  I’m kind of a sucker for delayed gratification...sucker or masochist, but let’s not draw those lines.  I am loving the small tidbits of Kate’s past and family history that we’re getting each book, along with the almost painfully slow development of her inevitable relationship with Curran.

I love Kate more and more with every page.  She’s pigheaded, she never gives in, she does incredibly stupid things that will often end terribly for herself in order to get the job done, and I love it.  She sees herself as someone who gets paid to get the job done right, and while that’s true, the story of Magic Burns gave us some deeper insight into Kate’s hidden underbelly.  Once she takes responsibility for something and someone, and in this case it is a girl, she will do everything in her power to follow through.  Part of me was like, ‘screw this Kate!’, because she was doing it all based on a fairly small favor she owed to a pretty horrible teenaged boy, but I’ll give the woman credit, she goes above and beyond.  

And so do her friends.  In Magic Burns we get to meet Andrea, her gun-happy coworker who shares a lot of Kate’s code, while completely being her own mysterious mess.  I was instantly a fan, and am so excited to know that Ilona Andrews’s forthcoming book, Gunmetal Magic, will be starring this woman.  Of course, Andrea’s not the only one, Derek also goes out of his way to protect Kate.  He’s kind of that annoying self-appointed side-kick.  You can’t help but love him, even when he’s being a bit of a lap dog (no pun intended)(okay, pun intended a little).  And then of course, there’s Curran.  Talk about a love/hate relationship.  Both Curran and Kate are incredibly stubborn and sharp tongued no matter the situation.  They’re either going to end up killing each other or tearing each others clothes off, which makes them a volatile pairing I just can’t wait to see ignite.  

Favorite scene ever?  Kate’s panties exposed in the hospital wing with a nice little bow on them, and Curran noticing.  All in all, I thought Magic Burns was a solid follow-up to Magic Bites.  I enjoyed the different mythology weaved into the story, and am quickly becomming more and more invested in this series.

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Oh goodness yes!  I’m dying for Magic Strikes to come in for me at the library.  I see it in the catalog just sitting on another library’s shelf and them not sending it to me.  I’m about to drive myself over to said library and get it myself, forget waiting on inter-libary loan!

Recommended for:  Any urban fantasy fans looking for a butt kicking protagonist with a heart of gold.  

Get a second opinion:
Book Harbinger
Angieville
Urban Fantasy Land 

Review: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Bites [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Ilona Andrews [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: Kate Daniels #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: March 27th, 2007 by Ace Books
Format: Paperback; 260 pages.  
Source: Borrowed from my local library.

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta's magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings-- and the death of Kate's guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she's way out of her league- but she wouldn't have it any other way.

I’d been hearing great things about Ilona Andrews’s urban fantasy series for some time, when I was finally pushed into reading Kate Daniels for several reasons.  First, Ilona Andrews released Magic Gifts, a Kate Daniels short, giving it away free to fans as a Christmas present.  I adore authors who do this sort of thing for their fans.  I know short stories as additions to series are gaining popularity, and I think this is a great trend.  It’s even better when it’s done in such a fun way, and this got me to start reading Ilona Andrews’ blog posts.  That was the second thing that got me to pick up Magic Bites.  Ilona Andrews has some thoughts about writing that I can get behind (for example, she has a great stance on review drama), and any time I come to respect an author personally I also find myself very much wanting to promote them professionally.  

So enter Magic Bites, starring Kate Daniels: Badass.  Now, I’m not quite head over heals with this series yet, but I did like Kate, Curran, and the world enough to keep going.  Also I hear it gets really good come Magic Strikes (#3).  Anyway...

The urban fantasy world created by Andrews is, for lack of a better term, awesome.  Kate Daniels is a mercenary in futuristic Atlanta, where a balance is constantly shifting between magic and technology.  When magic is high, tech fails.  Your phone won’t work, your car won’t work, and you better have some good magic guarding your house because not much else will keep the creepos out.  Kate can control a great deal of magic herself, which helps with the whole mercenary gig, but she bristles under authority and dislikes working through official channels.  Much to her chagrin, she finds herself knee deep in official business, and stuck between the Pack and The Masters of the Dead in a mystery that’s more personal than business.

I loved the interesting set up of this world.  The Pack, a group of shapechangers including not only werewolves, but those who change freely into other creatures as well (KITTY!), has its own interesting structure and customs that Kate maneuvers or metaphorically kicks in the balls as she sees fit.  Vampires are animalistic creatures controlled and branded by Masters of the Dead, and Kate knows all of the lowest of the low to squeeze for info when needed:

When in doubt and in need of information, find a snitch and squeeze him.  That was one of the very few investigative techniques I was aware of.  As a matter of fact, that and the “annoy principals involved until the guilty party decides to kill you” pretty much summed it up for me.  Move over, Sherlock.

I hadn’t really read classic urban fantasy like this before.  Most urban fantasy I’d read was YA, which tends to have a different feel.  It kind of clicked for me part way in, that this is a lot like reading modern crime fiction.  Now, I never really got much into that genre, but throw in the fantasy elements, and I was pretty much sold on the whole concept.  I can see why people are such fans of this and the The Edge series, and I can see myself lining up for both of them.

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Magic Burns is sitting on my end table just waiting to be picked up!

Recommended for:  Fans of serial crime fiction who are open to fantasy elements, and urban fantasy fans.  People who love a strong female protagonist who is far from dainty.

Real life repercussions of reading this book:  I feel even more lazy and out of shape than normal.  Train to be a badass?  Heck, I need to work on running around the neighborhood without using my inhaler.
Get a second opinion:
Chachic's Book Nook
Book Harbinger
Angieville